Slides in this set

Slide 1

How far was the politicaldecline of the Conservatives in the years 1902 to 1906 due to their failure to keep the support of the working classes?…read more

Slide 2

-Conservatives protecting a small number ofelite rich people.-Working class had opted to develop their ownpolicy base rather than simply comply withtraditional conservative values.-Existence of support from the Irish, and strongposition of unity with which the Liberal govt.entered the election campaign.-Conservative failure to hold onto the `politicalcentre'…read more

Slide 3

Factors suggesting the loss of significant working classsupport was a primary factor in thegradual decline of the Conservatives between 1902 and1906 might include:-The working class represented the largest electoralgroup. This became particularly significant when theLRC came into existence and formed a pact with the libgovt. in 1903-The conservatives had alienated many of the workingclass throughout 1902-1906 due to such incidents astariff reform and Taff vale, and Chinese slavery.-Conservative failure to develop welfare proposals, out-shadowed by liberal govt.…read more

Slide 4

Factors suggesting that working class support wasnecessary but that it was not, in itself,sufficient to explain the decline of the Conservativesduring this period might include:-Many of the electorate were not members of theworking class. The non-conformists rejected the cons.Due to the education act in 1902, with the abolishmentof volunteer school boards-Liberal party was exceedingly united throughout thisperiod, and was able to challenge the cons. Govt. directlythroughout this period.-The cons. Was split throughout 1902-1906, over issuessuch as tariff reform and Chamberlain, and Chineseslavery.…read more

Slide 5

Conclusion.The conservatives crafted their own decline, due to massalienation of their own voting demographic, and failureto secure the votes of the largest voting demographic inBritain, the working class. This suggests that the failure tosecure working class votes was the primary cause of theconservative decline, however, the events which causedthe alienation of the workers, such as Taff Vale andChinese slavery, are perhaps the most significant, alongwith the failure to provide any welfare reforms. This alsoreiterates the strength of the Liberal party, with thepromises for the introduction of a number of reforms in1906 by Asquith. The liberal party was a strong contenderto govern Britain, and they eventually out-shadowed thecons.…read more